“We’re handling some bigger life events in this season,” he said. “We do deal with a death, which is certainly a topic that families have to deal with, and on television, it’s not easy to do because that’s a heavy subject. But at the same time, it would seem unusual for a family not to go through it.”

“There is a significant change in the dynamics of the family that people maybe thought was going to happen at some point down the line that is happening sooner than expected," he added.

And while Modern Family is currently on the last season of its existing contract, Lloyd hopes the Dunphy family adventures aren't over quite yet, and that ABC will extend the series.

“There’s goodwill on both sides to make [another season] happen, but there’s also complicated matters that have to get worked through, and there’s a time constraint on it, because we can’t have it take too long,” he said. “I’m hoping that that doesn’t make the whole thing go away, but I think there’s a decent chance we’ll see it happen. I hope there is. From our standpoint creatively we’ve gotten excited writing this season and changing the lives of the characters — some in a significant way — and it’s made us think, ‘Wow, there’s a lot to explore in the lives of these characters.’ They’re in many ways such different characters than they were five or 10 years ago when we started and they’re just as interesting and just as funny. So our standpoint was, ‘Well, if we can do another season, we may as well. I’m hoping that we have some news on that [soon], and if it winds up that we tried and just couldn’t make it work, we will have a great final season for sure.” Predictions on who won't survive the season? Share your thoughts in the comments.